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Saturday, May 14, 2011

The subjects and lesson contents are decided by the authorities such as the government. Some people argue that teachers should make the choice. Do you agree or disagree?

In almost all parts of the world, there is a national curriculum decided by the government which is followed in all schools. Some people however feel that it restricts the teachers’ freedom to respond to the students’ needs and so teachers should decide the school curricula. I believe that the national curriculum is good enough and has withstood the test of time but some portion of the curriculum should be left in the hands of the teachers.

Having a national curriculum merely standardises what is taught across the country, giving equal opportunity to all. If we abolish the national curriculum, anything could be taught and students would have even less equal opportunities. This would also worsen the gap between the government and private schools. It may also imply that religious schools could teach only religion and ignore science and therefore many students would not receive a well-rounded education.

On the other hand, it is also true that the national curriculum does not allow for enough local variation. It is import for children to learn the values of things such as local history, accents and dialects. We are not all the same and school should reflect that. The present problem is that the curriculum is too comprehensive. It tries to squeeze all children into the same mould.

What is actually needed is a more flexible policy to allow for individual aptitudes and interests. However, there should still be a limited core curriculum which should be decided by the government. Then the teachers should be given some freedom to offer any other subjects which the pupils and their parents want. Young people of all ages would be much more likely to thoroughly enjoy school, learn effectively, develop their individual talents, and gain a love of learning which will illuminate their whole lives. Teachers would ‘walk tall’ in our society and establish their proper role as guardians of the future.

To put it in a nutshell, I pen down saying that a national curriculum should be there but there should also be room for teachers to have their say wherever needed.